Sports complex rezoning passes 6-0

PEORIA — Times change. You can’t please everybody. And if you buy a house in a semi-rural area in Peoria, you can’t be sure about what might follow you there.

Cliched or not, those were the messages the city Zoning Commission sent Thursday to opponents of the proposed location of the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.

The commission voted 6-0 to approve zoning changes related to the 50-acre youth-sports facility in Northwest Peoria. One day earlier, during a special meeting, the Planning Commission gave its assent regarding land-use changes.

During its meeting Tuesday night, the City Council is expected to consider the entire package. The council appears to be the court of last resort for project foes. Among other things that concern some neighbors are noise and traffic the complex might generate.

“We can’t predict the future,” said Greg Hunziker, the Zoning Commission chairman. “For those that choose to settle where land is not completely developed, there’s always a certain amount of risk.”

Said commissioner Curt Davis: “Zoning laws and ordinances have changed through the years. They’re always going to. They evolved with changes in our communities.”

The changes Davis and colleagues approved rezone the land on which the complex is to be built. Zoning is to switch from single-family residential to a combination of multifamily residential and large-scale commercial. The residential rezoning includes most of the 10 bat-and-ball diamonds planned for the facility and allows for their use.

The commission also approved a special use for part of the area to be rezoned commercial. It permits construction of a 125,000-square-foot domed facility.

Another commercial-rezoned area is to be adjacent to the facility entrance, along Orange Prairie Road. According to project developers, nothing is planned for that section, although at some point it could accommodate a hotel.

The comprehensive plan the city adopted in 2011 anticipated low-density residential zoning in the area. But according to city planner Leah Allison, the impending northerly Orange Prairie extension has changed the development dynamic in the corridor between that road and Illinois Route 91.

“We’re seeing some different pressure that still has a component of residential but is not completely residential,” Allison said.

Some owners of residences in the Timberbrook subdivision, which lies adjacent to the proposed complex, have been outspoken opponents.

As he did during the Planning Commission meeting, Timberbrook resident Steve Ashburn voiced vociferously his disdain for the location of the complex. It’s across Orange Prairie Road from his house.

“This is nothing more than an image event,” he said in referencing a similar youth-sports complex, EastSide Centre in East Peoria. “This is nothing more than a facility to make Peoria look good and try to catch up to East Peoria.”

Some commissioners acknowledged elements of this project aren’t ideal. Commissioner Tim Shea lamented the location of the complex and the size of the sign developers want to erect in front of it.

But Shea and others said the potential advantages outweigh the concerns.

“I do think it’s a good project,” Hunziker said. “Is it a perfect location? Probably not. Is it a great location? Yeah, it is.”

Nick Vlahos can be reached at 686-3285 or nvlahos@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @VlahosNick.